ok, so i'm new here and pretty new to nissans. i originaly baught my 91 about 4 years ago, sold it to a so called friend who pretty much neglected any and all maintainance, and then recently got the car back (for free). so now it has 166k, it has the auto transaxle. it still runs great and shifts well. i am keeping the car for my daugter who will be 16 next month. anyway, here are my questions:

how many miles, on average, can i get out of it? i know a lot of variable come to play, but give me a ballpark.

how well does the auto transaxle hold up?

when they do give up the gost, where is the best/affordable place to replace them? i don't need any exotic motor swap, i like the power of the motor, would just want to replace it with a remainufacted deal. same with the transaxle if it goes south.

thanks

 

if the tranny goes out and you feel you must put an auto back in it, you'll probably shell out $1200-$2500 to get it rebuilt..if you can find an 89-91 SE with a good 5 spd you can change the clutch parts and have it swapped/swap it yourself and save some money..

As for the engine, well, you should have a good long time before you need a new one, unless it was seriously abused (I don't mean leadfoot abused, I mean 6500 rpms no less all the time kind of abused)..quite a few maximas break the 400k miles point, and almost all can break the 300k point..

 

Ditto what Golden Ice said. My recent tranny rebuild was $1800. My engine has about 180K on it, and it still runs like a top. You might look into a tranny flush and adding a tranny cooler in order help add life to it.
Used/rebuilt trannys and engines are available on the web- ebay, etc.. just have to be a little cautious is all.

 

sweet! thats great to hear! ok, i want to know more about the 5 speed swap and i'm sure its been covered a bunch so if anyone has a link to some good threads or cares to cover it again for me that would be great. thanks for the info!

jason

 

its a long process to explain..if you look back a few pages you should be able to find a thread discussing transmission transplant, trans conversion, somthing along those lines..remember, you have a VG30E engine, so you want to look for an 89-91 SE for a parts car so everything bolts up..I think the only holes you have to drill are for the clutch master cylinder..I'm told there is already a clutch pedal mount in all 3rd gens, but I dunno about that..

 

Being a VG I have five words for you...

Interference engine and timing belt!

With a 166K on the clock you better hope it been changed at least once, and hopefully twice. If the timing belt breaks the motor goes buh-bye!

 

i was planning on doing the timing belt. what do you mean by interference engine?

 

he means pistons slamming into valves and bent valves as a result

 

gotcha

so how much of a P.I.A. is the timing belt to do?

 

if you know a fair amount about engine mantianece and doing the qword yourself you could proboly do it if you buy some sort of book to help. id set aside at least a whole day but it should only take 3 or 4 hours and make sure you change the water pump in the process

 

Lots of motor experience- just on small block chevys. i checked out my haynes manual and it doesn't look too bad. just so much crap packed into a little space. LOL!

what makes the vg30e have such a crappy belt. the manual says you have to replace it every 60k or 2 yrs.

 

the belt isn't really crappy but if its never been changed within the 60k miles (or worse, the 166k that is on the engine now) then there's a large chance of ruining the engine.

 

Welcome to the world of timing belts. Most every timing belt out there has a service life of 60K miles. MOST designers have moved from interference to non-interference designs for belt driven engines. Hondah is one of the last holdouts. The early 3rd gen Max was one of the last of the big Nissan belts.

Belts will typically run 100-125K before breaking, but with an interference engine you DON'T want to chance it.

 

Little Piggie could probably help you out or give you a good deal on doing the work. or you guys could have a timing belt changing weekend.